Early medical release from incarceration still restricted

STOCK PHOTO

North Carolina changed its rules for medical release for incarcerated people in 2023, but only six applications were made the following year, with only four approved.

Early medical release from prison is designed as a compassionate response for people who are severely ill behind bars. In North Carolina, the program remains inaccessible to most. 

In 2023, the General Assembly expanded early medical release with rule changes, such as decreasing the age for consideration from 65 to 55. That same year, eight people applied for early release and four died waiting for a response. 

In 2024, six applied and four were released. 

Molly Crane is the Equal Justice Works fellow with Families Against Mandatory Minimums, or FAMM. She said more people in North Carolina prisons should be eligible for medical release, but some are excluded no matter how sick they are.

“In some ways, this kind of defeats the purpose of medical release,” Crane said. “We know that medical release exists because people who are critically ill are the most expensive to house, the most burdensome to care for and the least likely to recidivate – and that’s true irrespective of the crime of conviction.”

As the prison population ages rapidly, Crane said prisons are essentially becoming nursing homes for many. A study from the Vera Institute of Justice from 2017 found recidivism rates for people ages 50 to 65 was about 2%. 

For people over 65, the rate was essentially zero. 

Crane also noted that people on early release are still overseen by parole officers. She said family members also suffer when their loved one is incarcerated and terminally ill, because they can’t visit and often don’t know what’s happening. 

Crane has visited prisons around the country and seen people who couldn’t be released despite their dire health situation.

“I’ve seen people on ventilators who are handcuffed to the bed and have chains around their waist,” Crane said. “I’ve seen people who are choking on their own vomit and there’s no one available to intervene. People with lung failure who develop wasting syndrome because there isn't equipment available to help them breathe.”

Crane said North Carolina lawmakers could make the program more accessible, such as by clarifying the definitions for medical standards so that it’s easier for staff to know who qualifies. 

She also pointed to efforts in other states, like the Just Housing Amendment in Cook County, Illinois, which bars housing providers – including nursing homes – from discriminating against people based on convictions that are more three years old.

“That would be helpful as well in North Carolina,” said Crane, “so that a conviction from 50 years ago for someone who can't move any parts of their body is not a barrier to them finding nursing care.”

Comments